Two graduates of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music are among five winners in the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Amanda Woodbury, a 26-year-old soprano from Crestwood, Ky., and Yi Li, a 29-year-old tenor and a native of Jinan, China, have each won $15,000 and the career-launching prestige of having won America's most important vocal competition.

Woodbury will be performing twice in the 2014 Cincinnati May Festival. She sings a pre-concert recital on May 16, and will be a soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 8, "Symphony of a Thousand," under James Conlon on May 17, both in Music Hall.

Yi Li, a 29-year-old tenor, was one of the winners at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.(Photo: Provided)

Woodbury , who studied at CCM with William McGraw, is currently at the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program at LA Opera. Li, a former student of CCM professor David Adams, is a member of the Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.

The other winners are Julie Adams, 26, a soprano from Burbank, Calif.; Patrick Guetti, 26, a bass from Highland Park, N.J.; and Ao Li, 26, a bass-baritone from Dezhou, China, currently living in San Francisco.

On Sunday in New York, nine finalists performed arias with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra on the Met stage in the final round of competition. The audience included influential members of the opera world, such as artistic directors of leading opera companies, artist managers, established opera stars, important teachers and coaches and music critics.

The finalists were winnowed from a field of 1,500 competitors who vied in auditions held in 40 districts and 13 regions throughout the United States and Canada.

For more than 60 years, the Met Auditions have launched the careers of some of today's best-known opera stars, including Stephanie Blythe, Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson and Deborah Voigt.

New York's classical radio station WQXR 105.9 will air a concert performed by the Grand Finals winners and hosted by Naomi Lewin, formerly of WGUC, at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The singers will be joined by Met star and former National Council winner soprano Deborah Voigt.

Local fans can watch via a live webcast on both www.wqxr.org and www.thegreenespace.org.